Glitter Isn't Always Pretty
by ladynightsky
Summary: AU Flora may SEEM perfectly happy, but inside, she's seething with anger. Here's what she really thinks about everything from her friends to Helia. Flora really VENTING in her diary.
1. Dear Diary

**Glitter Isn't Always Pretty**

By: LadyNightSky

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Summary: AU from Second Season on."I'm the kind of girl that you glance at briefly on the street, than forget about. I'm the very definition of ordinary, of normalcy…" Flora's life may seem perfect, but that just shows how much you know. She's always been the wallflower, the one that fades quietly into the background. That's all about to change.

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**A/N: Hey, Flora can't be perfectly sweet all the way through. This is just her venting her true feelings.**

**This is like an abstract re-write of the Second Season, since I didn't like it much at all, from Flora's viewpoint in the form of diary entries. In the future, it might include miscellaneous Winx girl and RF boy diary entries/thoughts as well.**

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September 8, 2005

Dear Diary,

I'm the kind of girl that you glance at briefly on the street, than forget about.

I'm the very definition of ordinary, of normalcy.

My friends, on the other hand, are the embodiment of everything beautiful and wild and good in life.

When we go out, my friends glitter while I fade quietly into the background.

Bloom has power and strength, and a magnetic pull that draws people to her. Musa has huge talent and a personality that makes her unforgettable. Stella has a sparkling, irresistible demeanor and beauty that is revered by all. Tecna has intelligence and wit, a brilliance that sets her apart.

And me? I have the reputation for being a shy, naïve, conservative little girl. I've always been the wallflower, ever since elementary school. I came to Alfea hoping to escape my status as a prude, to leave my past behind me, to find true friends…to find true love.

And I have done one part. The Winx are like an extension of me, the part that wants to be crazy and spontaneous and unpredictable, the part I can't seem to draw out, but a part of me nevertheless.

Occasionally they forget me; I can't blame them. Occasionally they tease me, which hurts a million times worse. "Goodie two shoes" when I'm merely pointing out the trouble we could get into. "Killjoy" when I ruin a prank. "Ice princess" when I don't go to dances.

Apparently, my extensions are also the cruel parts of me.

But it's a moot point. They're my best friends, and it's part of my job as a friend to put up with their elbow-jabbing.

Love, on the other hand, is a bit different.

Do you know how horrible it feels when your friends blow you off to hangout with a pack of steroids they have the audacity to call boyfriends?

Or when Valentines' rolls around and everyone is counting how many pink, perfumed hearts and boxes of chocolates they've gotten, while you haven't even gotten so much as a smile from your friends at the blood red roses you grew especially for them to wear?

Alfea's officially starting classes tomorrow. All day today, Bloom made me sit around while she made "coochie coo" faces at the blonde load of meat she calls her soulmate, when I could've been researching my newest Lilify Flower.

I know I sound really bitter, but if I had a boyfriend, I'd NEVER ditch them for him, not matter what he looked like or how good a boost my reputation would get when people found out I was dating him.

It's kind of corny that I'm keeping a diary, and the girls would tease me mercilessly if they ever found out, but I need someone to hear me out, even if that someone is a green stack of papers bound in pink leather.

I've put a Level One Security spell on this book anyways. I want to get better grades this year, and the last thing I need as a distraction is my secrets spilled all over school.

Well, goodbye diary, the girls are calling me for some reason or other now, and I better go.

Flora

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**A/N: Yes, Flora is very OOC and the Winx Girls sound very bitchy. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, aren't they?**

**Well, please R&R, it'll only take about ten seconds of your life and I want to know if this is worth continuing.**

**:)Bee**


	2. Disasters

**Glitter Isn't Always Pretty**

By: LadyNightSky

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**A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed :) Three for the first chapter…aw, I was hoping for more. Not to sound bratty or anything. Anyway, to the fic.**

**Once again, this is AU/OoC, and the events of the Second Season have been jumbled up.**

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Chapter Two: Disasters

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_September 9, 2006_

Dear Di,

Today was a complete disaster.

I repeat, a COMPLETE DISASTER.

We have a new teacher. His name is Avalon. He's a brilliant professor. Unfortunately, he also happens to attract drooling girls. You should've seen lunchtime. Wherever he went, there were at least five girls trailing along after him, starry eyed. It was a bit pathetic, really. Worst of all were my friends.

Half the time, all of them ( except Tecna and I ) were the ones following Avalon. And even though Tec resisted the urge to follow the prof around, she sat next to me not even listening to the questions I was asking her, her eyes following the professor's chiseled chin across the quad.

At least I got the electives I wanted, Intermediate Potions with Professor Laurelle and Magical Botany with Professor Faunreckle. Avalon's leading some kind of advanced workshop that deals with magical heritage.

It requires a recommendation from Ms. Faragonda, which Bloom has already gone after aggressively, Stella and Tecna not far behind. At least Musa was trying to exert some self control. She actually waited a few hours after the class instead of ambushing the Headmistress immediately.

I guess I'm the only sane Winx girl left. I wonder what their boyfriends will think of their new obsession with Avalon. I can't imagine that they'll be too happy.

This morning, before breakfast, I went to Faragonda's office about a glitch in my schedule, and noticed a guy slipping out her door. He had hair as long as mine, black, in a ponytail down his back. He was dressed a little oddly, in a style straight out of the last era, his clothes hanging off of his somewhat gangly and tall frame.

I could tell he was an artist, he had a perpetually dreamy air around him, and charcoal smudges adorned his fingers. His sharp, angular features reminded me vaguely of someone I couldn't quite place.

He glanced at me briefly, stiffened, and stalked off down the hall, suddenly and obviously angry. Bemused, I rapped on Faragonda's door. At her invitation, I went into the office. She was seated at her desk, and glanced at me through her spectacles.

"Yes Flora?" she'd asked. I questioned her about the artist, but she avoided the queries, skillfully dodging the barbs.

Defeated, I'd reverted to my original plan, and had reported my defective schedule. I'm determined to find out about him though, and why he reminds me so much of…someone.

Ah, I got to go. It's time for the unveiling of the new Red Fountain.

_Flora._

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_Same Day_

Dear Di,

His name is Helia.

He was sitting with Sky, Brandon, Timmy, and Riven, on the bleachers in the new stadium, sketching a dove. Apparently, he's Saladin's grandson, which is why he looks so familiar. I was forced to sit next to him throughout the ceremony, as the other Winx girls were seated next to their respective boyfriends, giggling and flirting and wishing them luck in their various events.

We didn't talk the entire time. I sensed that he was angry and uneasy at my presence. I wonder why. I mean, I haven't even seen him before this morning, much less known him enough to wrong him. I sneaked a few glances at his sketch.

He's actually quite a good artist. The doves looked incredibly realistic. I knew better however, then to compliment him.

Anyway, onto the INCREDIBLY unusual stuff, yes, something happened that was even worse than a complete stranger hating me right off the bat.

A monster.

Literally. Halfway through our ceremony, a humongous monster crashed through the newly rebuilt gates ( ouch, what a waste of money ), and started attacking random people. Codatorta immediately started yelling for people to evacuate in an orderly fashion, which, of course, didn't happen. Everyone panicked and started crushing towards the exits.

I mean, really, people, half of you possess magic and the other half possess muscles and swords, and yet you leave the monster to my friends and me? That can not be good for the reputation of both of our schools as places of bravery and honor.

That's what I thought a lot later. At the time, I was too busy Winxing and flying up to Faragonda in the balcony to think so rationally. The other girls met me there.

From that height, I could see the state of mass hysteria the crowd seemed to be in, and the monster in the midst of all the people. Codatorta and our Red Fountain guys were trying to hold the monster in one place so it wouldn't crush anyone, but their swords and ropes were sustaining too much damage.

I glanced frantically at Faragonda for some type of instruction, mimicking what the Winx were already doing. She was talking rapidly to Griffin, then looked at us. She told us to fly down, and use our magic to create strong ropes to tie the monster up, then contact as many Red Fountain teams as we could.

We did as told, then contacted the Red Fountain archery team, who shot arrows at the monster. The arrows bounced off harmlessly.

That was when it started to look bad. Not that it wasn't bad before, but this was the point where it really looked horrible.

Bloom collapsed. Just like, KABOOM fainted. Her ropes disintegrated, and without her help, the monster broke through the rest of our defenses. It rampaged around. And then my world went black.

I found out from the Winx later that the monster had spit some kind of poisoned saliva on my face, and I had tried to rub it off frantically while the monster had opened its jaws, ready to snap me out of the air.

Then, out of the blue, a set of bright yellow ropes had flown out of the air and around the monster, securing it for a moment. I'd fallen to the ground, and Tecna had carried me to safety and had used a cleansing spell to clean off my face.

That's all I remember.

The Winx girls said that Helia had been the one to secure the monster, saving my life.

They were very angry with him, for he'd secured it just long enough to save me but not to help them.

I can't help but wonder why someone who seems to hate me so deeply would save my life.

The monster was defeated in the end, and we all returned to Alfea, exhausted.

I should probably thank Helia, but that would sound so weird.

"Hey Helia, I just wanted to thank you for saving my life, but why do you hate me? And why do you wear clothes that were in fashion nearly two hundred years ago? Like, no offense or anything but…"

He'd probably have a restraining order put on me.

God, the girls are all complaining about their destroyed evening and how they'd kill whoever had sent the monster.

They seem to suspect nothing, not even Tecna, who usually tallies up all suspects.

But I think I know better. It may have been a hallucination, but for one brief moment, as Tecna was dragging me to safety, I saw the same sharp, cold blue eyes, filled with cruel mirth, that I had stared into for the first time nearly a year before.

I think I saw Icy.

_Flora_


	3. Layla, Princess Extraordinaire

**Glitter Isn't Always Pretty**

By: LadyNightSky

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Disclaimer: There was something bugging me about this story, but I couldn't pinpoint it, until I remembered that I haven't been writing disclaimers for it. So, I DON'T OWN WINX CLUB. Voila, instant fixage. :)

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Chapter Three: Meet Layla, Princess Extraordinaire

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_September 11_; _At the medical wing_

Dear Diary,

I might not have seen Icy that day, but the metaphorical shadows the Trix used to cause are back with a bang.

Early this morning, a little after dawn, I went for a walk along the edge of the Alfean Woods, and discovered a strange set of footprints newly implanted on the soil. They looked like they'd been made with hiking boots, and I followed them a ways into the forest, finally happening upon a clearing. There a girl with flowing brown hair lay on the ground, eyes closed.

I knelt beside her and shook her gently, trying to wake her up, and when I couldn't I waved a bit of porcelaen bark under her nose; having snatched up the bark from a small tree growing conveniently near by.

It woke her instantly, and she sat up, a bit dazed. I asked her what her name was, but she didn't seem to be able to hear me. She stared at me, not really seeing me, repeating the same phrase over and over again, "_Darkar has the pixies, Darkar has the pixies…_"

I cast a spell to make her light as a feather, and half dragged half carried her back to Alfea, where I immediately signed her in the medical wing.

Nurse Ophelia said she was suffering from Post-Winx Depletion Syndrome, then shooed me away, telling me that there was nothing I could do for the girl now and that I best hurry along back to my dorm.

When I got there, the girls were waiting, ready to snap at me for making them late for their breakfast. Before they could open their mouths, I rapidly related what I'd been up to that morning.

Eyes wide, they promptly linked arms with me, and we walked down to the dining hall together, dreaming up possibilities to who they girl was and what she meant by "Darkar has the pixies."

Musa, always the groundless dreamer, thought that she was a heroine from a distant realm, thwarted in her attempt to save the universe and suffering from the loss of her pixie friends to a monster named Darkar.

Bloom, the romantic, thought that she was a princess that was running from an arranged marriage, running to her true love and true friends, who she'd just discovered had been turned into pixies by a dark wizard named Darkar.

And Tecna, the practical one, said that she was probably just some girl that had gotten lost and was hallucinating from losing her Winx.

I must admit, I had agreed with Tec on this one. The girl certainly hadn't been attired like a princess or a heroine, more like a hiker that had been out in the wilderness longer than she'd planned.

All of us stopped by the medical wing after morning classes, and arranged ourselves around the girl's bed. Tecna ran a scan on her, deriving that she actually was a princess, Princess Layla of Tides, which was on the other side of the Magical Dimension.

What she was doing here, so far from her home, was a complete mystery. According to the scans, she didn't attend either Alfea or Cloud Tower (not that she looked like a witch) or Bexmount, the rather snobby exclusive academy for princesses located one magical forest west of Red Fountain (which Stella claimed was just a dumping site for princesses who couldn't make it into Alfea).

Suddenly, we all heard a small wail coming from the girl's (I suppose I'll call her Layla now) discarded pile of bedraggled clothes, which Nurse Ophelia had exchanged for a standard medical nightgown.

Musa, who was nearest the pile, bent down and extracted a tiny baby pixie with huge blue eyes out of Layla's hood. The baby immediately stopped crying and cooed happily as Musa rocked it. She looked at us questioningly, then placed it gently on Layla's bed. The baby crawled up Layla's arm, and settled on her head contentedly, falling asleep in a few moments.

Layla's face, which had been tense a moment ago, faded into an expression of relaxation, and abruptly, her eyes flickered open, scanning me and my friends quickly.

She lifted a shaking hand to her head, a gently picked the baby off, settling it on the bed beside her. She sat up, glanced around the room with the nervous expression of a rabbit that's been cornered by a troll. "I-I um, where-?" she stammered, her voice hoarse.

I stepped forward and smiled. "Hello, Layla. You're at Alfea, a school for magical faeries. We found you in the middle of the forest."

Her eyes widened, and rolled back into her head, and she collapsed again. I gasped, and hurried forward, but the Nurse bustled in again and demanded we all leave.

We left and-

Oh crap.

I gotta go. Something's wrong.

_Flora_

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**A/N: Yes, yes, it was very VERY short, and Flora would NEVER have said "crap", but I couldn't bear to put in "Oh gooey gumdrops". It made my eye twitch. I'll try and update soon; meanwhile, vote on what pairing you want: Flora/Helia, Flora/Riven, or Flora/OC.**


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